[Aiwendil]

Bethberry wrote:

The bolding is mine. It is Tulkas who brings the gift of laughter, of comedy, which is also a means for defeating Melkor. I wish Tolkien had made more of this effect of comedy.

This is a very interesting observation. The Silmarillion, as I think I remember discussing in an old thread, is somewhat unusual in that there is a total absence of humour - that is, there is really nothing in it that is designed to make the reader laugh. But there is merriment - there are characters who laugh. Not many, perhaps; but I think you're onto something when you note that it is Tulkas's laughter (in addition to his physical strength) that defeats Melkor in the first war. Actually Tolkien's phrasing is quite interesting: Melkor flees before 'his wrath and laughter.' Wrath and laughter are not things that we would normally associate with one another.

Raynor wrote:

for one thing, the valar themselves change, in role, strength and abilities

I think you are right. The Valar and Maiar change on time-scales much longer than those of mortals, or even Elves, but they do change. For one thing, they become less and less directly involved in the affairs of Middle-earth as time passes.

I think (and I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here) that the Elvish nostalgia that Tolkien depicts is more complicated than a reactionary "life was good long ago and now it's bad". Tolkien sympathizes with the Elves' nostalgia and their longing for Arda Unmarred by the evil of Melkor, but he also seems to see that nostalgia as a potentially bad thing. As the ages pass, the Elves (like the Valar) become less involved in the world, less able to really live because they are lost in the past.

If I may quibble, though:

such as becoming more tied to their bodies and losing some of their thought transmitting capacities

I don't recall this every being said about the Valar. In "Osanwe-kenta" Tolkien indicates that when a Vala or Maia retains a physical manifestation for a very long time, he or she becomes tied to it and unable to adopt a different form. This certainly happens to Melkor, as well as (much later) to Sauron, and perhaps to other Maiar as well, like Melian - but I don't think that it happened to the Valar. I may be wrong.